Henry Wamala
Henry Wamala hails from Uganda, a country where approximately 70% of the working population is employed in the agricultural sector, while grappling with a poverty rate of 31%. Henry earned his Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Makerere University in Uganda. During his tenure as a student, he assumed the roles of a teaching assistant at a tertiary institute and a research assistant at a veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Thus he embarked on a career as a farm veterinarian and he joined Mercy Corps Uganda as a livestock officer, contributing to USAID-funded projects focused on food security and livestock disease control. He participated in studies and initiatives including the WOAH PVS assessment, analysis of the animal health market system's resilience, evaluation of barriers and enablers related to privatization of veterinary services, review and design of disease surveillance systems, development of disease control strategies for TBDz and CBBP, the design and implementation of a vaccination public-private partnership (PPP), liquidity profiling, qualitative sustainability inquiries, assessment of producer organization viability, and seroprevalence studies, alongside investigating the economic significance of common diseases in the Karamoja region.
Henry has skills in field epidemiology, market system development approaches, project management, program management, animal welfare, and One Health in infectious disease management and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), among other areas. Henry's passions revolve around fostering sustainable, scalable, and evidence-based interventions in animal health to enhance productivity, food security, and the resilience of communities. He is particularly dedicated to combating transboundary animal diseases, zoonoses in livestock using a One Health approach, addressing "neglected livestock/animal diseases," and addressing global challenges such as AMR, climate change, and food insecurity. Henry is eager to contribute his valuable experiences and continue learning from the individuals and opportunities that come his way.